PICATINNY ARSENAL — By the time anyone reported anything unusual, it was too late. A car packed with explosives had entered the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal.

That's the scenario that played out Tuesday, as Picatinny and supporting organizations simulated a live shooter event, in a drill to test their responsive abilities, according to a description of the event by the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command.

In the scenario, a male employee became upset after a relationship with a female coworker ended. He didn't hide his feelings — weeping at her desk, and making disturbing, violent remarks, according to the Army description.

"I'm going to go down
to Washington and set our politicians straight," he would say, according to the drill's script. Coworkers started bringing hammers to smash the glas of their windows in case they needed to evacuate, the Army description said.

But the response was swift, according to the Army's description of the drill. It quoted Picatinny
Arsenal Police Chief Robert Frutchey saying the drill had to be restarted because officers managed to "kill" the live shooter within minutes of the time he entered the rear of the building.

"We had to restart it so that we could walk through the
entire scenario of responding to casualties and a hostage situation," he
said, according to the Army.

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In the simulation, responders found the car in a nearby parking lot, and inspected it with bomb-sniffing dogs. A receptionist hit a panic button when the shooter enetered her building, alerting police.

But in the second run-through of the drill, the shooter did manage to kill one person, after going through the floors of the headquarters looking for targets, the Army said. Responders also found a vest with an explosive device attached, it said.

The Army said the drill was conducted with the participation of a number of local organizations that would take part in a real emergency response: the
Morris County Office of Emergency Management, the county Sheriff's Emergency Response Team, the county Sheriff's Bomb
Squad, St. Claire's Hospital of Denville and Dover, St. EMS and paramedics, the Rockaway Township Fire
Department EMS, the Florham Park First Aid Squad and the Cedar Knowls Fire
Department EMS.

Morris County OEM also provided makeup for the "victims" of gunshots, it said.

The drill even included a pre-recorded faux news clip, depicting a New York reporter trying to access to the front gate of Picatinny.